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WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 23, 2012Nick WatneyMARANA, ARIZONA COLIN MURRAY: Nick, thanks for joining us, congratulations. A hard fought victory over Tiger Woods. NICK WATNEY: First of all, I'm very happy to have won. I think‑‑ I respect very much what Tiger has done in this game and for this game. So it was‑‑ I'm very happy to move on. I feel a bit fortunate, as well. We don't see him miss putts like that very often. And there were a few of them. I don't think that this will be a day that either of us will look back on as far as putting goes. But like I say, I'm happy to move on and get ready for Westwood, I guess. Q. When you knew you were going to play him, what was your mood like this morning or last night or level of anticipation, or stress? I guess there's been some stress with you this year. How did you handle it? NICK WATNEY: I was very excited once I saw the match. This is what‑‑ I was telling‑‑ Chad and I were talking and he was asking me, isn't this fun, isn't this fun? And it really was. That chip on the last hole, I would have loved to have made it. But I've hit that shot a thousand times, you know, just like this is to beat Tiger. And so unfortunately I didn't make it. I was very excited to play him. I think I've gotten ‑‑ I wouldn't say close, but I think I know Tiger pretty well. He was extremely‑‑ he was a gentleman out there. We definitely both wanted to win, but I'm really happy to move on. Q. Nick, did you get anything from Butch about playing with Tiger and how he plays, some sort of mental stuff to prepare yourself? NICK WATNEY: Well, Butch just told me that the crowd will definitely be pro‑Tiger. Which it was, which was fine. It's interesting to play sort of an away match (laughter). So the crowd was pro‑Tiger. And he just said that he's not going to game you. He's just going to go out and he wants to beat you. No matter if you guys are friends, no matter if you play practice rounds, he wants to beat you. So meet his level of intensity. But it was, like I said, a very standup match, no gamesmanship or anything like that. It was just hard fought. Maybe not the highest quality of‑‑ definitely not the highest quality of putting, but somebody had to win. Q. Just to follow up, were you expecting him to be a bit‑‑ did you realize that there would be really no talking at all? NICK WATNEY: I expected that. I didn't want to talk to him either, you know? (Laughter). That's fine. It's like that on a Sunday afternoon, as well, in stroke play, you're not paling around coming down the stretch. That was fine. And when there was a good shot, we said good shot. And it was‑‑ it was hard fought, but a civil match. Q. He's got a 5‑footer on 18. What are you thinking? And in with that, you're talking about a lot of shots. I guess the greens are very tough to read. Were you thinking he's going to make it or it's going to be tough, because he's missed his other ones? NICK WATNEY: No question I thought he was going to make it. I had my yardage book, I had my pin sheet turned to the first hole, and I was wondering if 3‑wood was too much. No question I thought he was going to make it. And I think everybody thought he was going to make it, to be honest. I know he thought he would. The old adage is expect your opponent to make it, and when it's Tiger Woods you really expect him to make it. Q. What about the greens, were they tough to read? Guys seem to be struggling a little bit? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, they are. Obviously they're fairly slopey. And then there's a little bit of grain in the grass. And then you have the valley effect or the airplane graveyard or whatever that thing is down there that seems to pull putts. Yeah, I mean I was confused. I know he was confused. Maybe I can figure them out tomorrow. Q. Could you talk about the putt on 12? And when you go 2‑up, how does that affect you the rest of the way emotionally? NICK WATNEY: Well, you know, No. 10, he kind of gave me 10. He made double. 11 was big because I made about a 6‑footer to halve, which was really the first thing I saw go in all day. And 12 was nice to finally read one. I felt like‑‑ I hit my share of bad putts, but I also hit my share of good ones that didn't go in. I just felt like Tiger Woods is not going to lay down. Tiger Woods is not going to give you this match, so you've got to do something to take it. And that was big. Obviously that ended up being the cushion of the match. To go from 1‑up to 2 is also nice. Q. Can you compare how you felt internally out there today compared to say Doral? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, it's different, I feel like. Match play is different. In Doral, for whatever reason‑‑ Q. In Doral you lost. I'm clear on that? NICK WATNEY: What? Q. The one you played with Mickelson. I don't care about your wins‑‑ NICK WATNEY: Oh, okay. Q. That was a high energy day, Nick? NICK WATNEY: When I played with Phil at Doral? Q. Yes. NICK WATNEY: And today, comparing them? I would say it's different in stroke play and match play. I'm 2‑up with three to go. You think that's a fairly‑‑ you should win that match. You're 2‑up with three to go at Doral‑‑ well, I wasn't, but in stroke play, you make a nine‑‑ obviously if I made a nine on 16 instead of a 3, it would be the same. Stroke play, I think it's just different. It's different kind of matches. Today I was‑‑ for some reason I was probably a little more nervous today than I was then. I'm not sure why. Q. Congratulations on winning Doral last year, by the way. NICK WATNEY: Thanks. Q. I know you said it kind of tongue in cheek, but how recently have you practiced chip shots where you thinking this one is to beat Tiger? NICK WATNEY: In the off‑season probably. Q. Really? NICK WATNEY: Yeah. I mean he's‑‑ I think if you come to this event or if the casual person comes to this event, they want to see Tiger Woods. He put golf on the map. And he is kind of‑‑ I know he's not in his current form maybe not as dominant as he was. But he's still Tiger Woods. I think everybody on the Tour would like to go head‑to‑head with him. And I'm happy that I was able to come out on top. Q. Do you think everybody else is practicing with that sort of focus to their practice? They want to beat Tiger Woods? NICK WATNEY: Yeah, I don't think‑‑ there are probably millions of people around the world that say that. Q. Just for the record, apparently you'd only played with him one time in a stroke play event in China, is that right? NICK WATNEY: No, I played with him before a few times. I played with him in practice rounds‑‑ Q. I mean under fire? NICK WATNEY: No, I played with him a couple of times, maybe four different times, maybe. Twice in China, actually three rounds in China and somewhere over here, but I can't remember where it was. Q. As you said you've played with him a bit and you've watched him obviously like everyone has. Do you feel like today he hit a lot of quality shots. The drive on 2, I think it was 370 yards, whatever that thing was, and you hit a good one there, too, and he was like 25 yards by you. Does that still have an impact on you. Do you still go, wow, this guy can still do it? And the second part of it is when it gets to the greens, it's almost like another guy compared to what he used to be? NICK WATNEY: Well, yeah, I mean, first of all, I think‑‑ yeah, when he‑‑ it's still in there. I think it's still in there. He can do things with a golf ball that not a lot of people can. Now, there's a few guys now that can hit it really, really far. I've played with Dustin and played with Bubba. When guys hit it by me, it's not that big a deal. I really think that this place, the greens are difficult to read. I don't think he hit too many putts that he missed a ball off his line or anything. I think he just misread a lot of them for whatever reason. I think he'll be just fine. Q. You've taken on Westwood each of the last two years, including last year when he's No.1. Could you talk about that? Secondly, the last two years when you did beat a good player like Lee, you ended up losing in the next round. Is there anything to guard against getting through an emotional win and then getting yourself real amped up again? NICK WATNEY: Well, I did think about that on the way over‑‑ Q. Over here? NICK WATNEY: Over here, yeah. And there's no question it's going to be a really difficult match. I don't know what the score was, but I think he won easily today, fairly easily. So obviously he's in form. There may be a bit of revenge factor, I'm not sure. I know it's going to be a really difficult match. The first year that I beat Lee, I did have a bit of a letdown the next day. Last year I actually played really well the next day and just got beat. I'll go back with my wife and try to relax and then tomorrow is going‑‑ going to need just as much intensity to have a chance. COLIN MURRAY: Thanks for your time, good luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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